History

The Green Isle All-Stars played one game and made history in the process as the first ever Irish American Football team featuring home-grown players to play an American Football Team from the United States of America.

On November 29th 1986 the All-Stars, made up of players from the Dublin Celts, Belfast Blitzers, Craigavon Cowboys, Belfast Giants, Bangor Buccaneers and Dublin Tornadoes held Eastern Football League Champions the Marlboro Shamrocks from Massachusetts to a 0-36 scoreline in the stiffest test yet faced for the fledgling league, having just finished its first ever season.

Note: Please click on each match to see Box-Scores and Match Reports for that Match

Team Roster

References

SOURCES

[1] Anon. (1986) “American Football comes to Dublin” Irish Press. Wednesday, November 12, 1986. Pg. 11. [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[2] Anon. (1986) “Today’s sport” Irish Press. Wednesday, Friday, November 28, 1986. pg. 22 [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[3] Anon. (1986) “Marlboro on the march” Irish Press. Wednesday, Friday, November 28, 1986. pg. 17 [Past Copies of the Irish Press are available to view online at: https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ ]

[4] Sean Moloney (1986) “Shamrocks from USA are playing to win” Evening Herald. Saturday, November 29, 1986. pg. 6.

WEBSITES

[3] Britball Now (2016) History of the Game in Ireland [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/history-index/ireland/history-of-the-game-in.html [Accessed 02 October 2016]

[4] Britball Now (2008) UK Clubs Against Foreign Opposition [Internet] Available from: http://www.britballnow.co.uk/History/UKClubsForeignOppo.html [Accessed 16 November 2008]

[5] Semi-Pro Football (2017) Eastern Football League Champions [Internet] Available from: http://www.semiprofootball.org/minor/champs/eastfl.htm [Accessed 16 November 2017]

SOURCES

[6] Kevin Sharkey (2020) “The Dublin Celts” Word Document shared by John Gunning on Facebook Messenger with permission.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Kevin Sharkey (Dublin Celts, Dublin Lightning and North Kildare Reapers)

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 29 August 2021

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020-2021

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved. The Logos and Photos used in this article remain the property of the organisations and individuals which own the copyright and are used here for educational and information purposes only.